EXPEDITION INTO THE JUNGLE 39 



The Dayaks helped me to construct a small shed with 

 a fireplace inside where I could dry my wet clothing, 

 towels, etc. Of their own initiative they also put up 

 around the tent some peculiar Dayak ornamentations in 

 the shape of long spirals of wood shavings hung on to the 

 end of poles or trees which they planted in the ground. 

 The same kind of decorations are used at the great fes- 

 tivals, and when a gentle wind set them in motion they 

 had quite a cheerful, almost festive appearance. 



Every morning, almost punctually at five o'clock, the 

 gibbons or long-armed, man-like apes, began their loud 

 chatter in the tree-tops, more suggestive of the calls of 

 birds than of animals. They are shy, but become very 

 tame in confinement and show much affection. A wah- 

 wah, as the animal is called in this part of the world, will 

 throw his arms around the neck of his master, and is even 

 more human in his behaviour than the orang-utan, from 

 which he differs in temperament, being more vivacious 

 and inclined to mischief. In a kampong I once saw a 

 young gibbon repeatedly descend into a narrow inclosure 

 to tease a large pig confined there. The latter, although 

 three or four times as large, seemed entirely at his mercy 

 and was submissive and frightened, even when his ears 

 were pulled by the wah-wah. During my travels in the 

 jungle of Borneo, few were the days in which I was not 

 summoned to rise by the call of the wah-wah, well-nigh 

 as reliable as an alarm clock. 



My stay here was protracted much longer than I ex- 

 pected on account of rain and fog, which rendered photo- 

 graphing difficult; one or the other prevailed almost 



